Sediment porosity collected from R/V Oceanus cruise OC1906A and R/V Sikuliaq cruise SKQ202016S off the coast of California in 2019 and 2020

Sediment porosity was determined in cores collected at several stations off the coast of California: at a site in Catalina Basin ('Cat'; latitude: 33.301, longitude: -118.6; water depth, 1310 m); sites K and D off the coast of central California south of Monterey Bay ('K'; latitude: 35.375, longitude: -121.501; water depth, 1000 m; 'D'; latitude: 36.113, longitude: -122.186; water depth, 1440 m). The Cat cores were collected in June 2019, while the site K and D cores were collected in December 2020. Sediment cores were sectioned on-board the ship, and wet sediment was placed in pre-weighed scintillation vials. The vials were frozen and returned to the shore-based lab at Old Dominon University (ODU) where the samples were dried to constant weight and wet-to-dry sediment ratios were converted to porosity values. These samples were collected as part of a larger project examining deaminated peptides and organic matter cycling in the sediments at these sites.